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Date: Tuesday, November 30, 1999, 9:44 AM -0500
From: Faulkner Information Services <flash@faulkner.com>
To: ???
Subject: Faulkner Comm Flash 11/29/99 - (Part 2 of 3)

Internet/Intranet 
	 SBC Communications and Concentric Network, a provider of e-business
solutions for small- and medium-sized companies, inked an agreement that
will allow SBC to provide DSL service to business customers nationwide. SBC
will use the ConcentricDSL Private Label program to provide DSL Internet
access lines to customers outside of its 13 state region. Previously, SBC
unveiled a $6 billion Internet initiative designed to expand its DSL service
to 80 percent of its customers within its 13 state region. SBC is will work
with Concentric to augment this deployment.

Local Area Networking 
	 3Com Corporation introduced enhancements into its CoreBuilder 9000 product
family to provide a range of network services for building e-Networks. The
enhancements enable the CoreBuilder 9000 family to be used in all areas of
the LAN and scaled with Layer-2 and multilayer switching performance.
	 Intel Corporation released the Intel AnyPoint Phoneline Home Network
product, that delivers up to 10M ps bandwidth over existing phone lines.

Legal News 
	 The US Senate passed the Millennium Digital Commerce Bill, intended to
ensure that contracts will not be denied legal effect that they otherwise
would have under state law, solely because they are in electronic form or
because they were signed electronically. In addition, the Bill is intended
to protect consumers against companies that present confusing electronic
disclosures or compel them into waiving their rights to paper records.
	 Alleging $10 million in failed payments, Andersen Consulting filed a
lawsuit against CSC. The dispute centers on a joint outsourcing project in
which the firms managed the computer systems of JP Morgan.
	 A federal jury ordered Newbridge Networks to pay Lucent Technologies $9.6
million in infringement damages. The jury upheld the validity of five Lucent
patents that were infringed by products made by Newbridge that are used to
manage data transmission on the Internet. Newbridge Networks will appeal the
decision.
	 Mannesmann opened legal proceedings against investment bank Goldman Sachs,
an advisor in Mannesmann's acquisition of Orange, claiming its relationship
with rival Vodafone AirTouch is a conflict of interest. The UK's High Court
granted a temporary injunction, forbidding the bank from serving as an
advisor to Vodafone AirTouch in its quest to launch a hostile takeover, and
a non-temporary ruling is expected to be handed down Thursday.
	 The state government of Tennessee will collect $1.3 million from MCI
WorldCom for misleading bill practices. MCI WorldCom, the state said,
falsely claimed that a fee, which was designated as a "National Access Fee"
on customers' bills, was a tax that the FCC required it to collect.
	 Qwest is being sued by Connecticut for slamming. Specifically, the IXC's
third-party representatives are said to have targeted consumers with Asian
and Latino surnames, because of the perception that they are vulnerable,
because of their perceived difficulties with the English language.

Mergers/Acquisitions 
	 AT&T will purchase most of the cable systems assets from Chambers
Communications. The systems are located in Chico and Novato, CA; Edmonds,
WA; Ontario, OR; and Payette, Idaho. AT&T will be acquiring about 80,000
subscribers with the buy.
	 AT&T Canada agreed to acquire the portion of Netcom Canada it does not
already own. The company also unveiled a restructuring plan that will
consolidate all of its Internet-related businesses into a new unit, AT&T
Canada Internet and E-Business Services. MetroNet Communications, Netcom
Canada, and ACC TelEnterprises fall under the unit's operating umbrella.
Netcom Canada's CEO, Ron Close, will join this new unit as its chief
executive. Terms of the Netcom purchase were not disclosed, and the deal is
expected to be completed by the second quarter of 2000.
	 BCT.TELUS reported plans to sell its 16.6 percent stake in Medialinx to
Bell Canada. The price of the stake was not released.
	 Bell Atlantic will not bid on Mannesmann because the price is too high,
says CEO Ivan Seidenberg. Mannesmann rejected Vodafone AirTouch's Euro 103
billion bid. Bell Atlantic, which is considering forging a US wireless
telephone partnership with Vodafone, may help Vodafone strengthen its bid
for Mannesmann. Other contenders pursuing Mannesmann include SBC
Communications, MCI WorldCom, and British Telecommunications.
	 Bell Canada boosted its stake in Teleglobe to 22 percent by acquiring an
additional 4 million shares of its stock. Bell paid $87 million, or $21.75
per share, for the shares.
	 Cabletron Systems reached a definitive agreement for the sale of its
FlowPoint subsidiary, a developer of broadband routers, to Efficient
Networks and formed an OEM alliance with Efficient. Under the terms of the
sale, Efficient will pay 13.5 million shares for FlowPoint.
	 Charter Communications acquired cable television systems owned by Falcon
Communications and Fanch Communications in a transaction valued at $3.6
billion and $2.4 billion, respectively. Charter also completed its
acquisition of Avalon Cable in a deal valued at $845 million.
	 Cisco Systems completed the acquisition of Calista that was initiated on
August 16, 1999. Cisco common stock worth $55 million was exchanged for all
outstanding shares and options of Calista.
	 AT&T and the Lenfest family will sell Lenfest Communications to Comcast
	 for almost $5.3 billion in stock. The Lenfest acquisition will yield
about 1.3 million more subscribers, giving Comcast a total of 7.2 million.
	 CSC completed the purchase of Nichols Research, following approval of the
deal by the Federal Trade Commission and Nichols shareholders.
	 Deloitte & Touche acquired virtually all of the assets of Sterling Health
Capital Management, which offers strategic and business planning, capital
financing, facility development, and consulting to the healthcare industry.
Charles A. Kachmarik, president and CEO of Sterling, became a partner at
Deloitte & Touche. He will lead the health care group of the firm's
Tri-State Management Solutions & Services practice.
	 Deutsche Telekom acquired Iris from Unisource for 700 million euros. The
move gives DT a presence in France. The purchase also counters France
Telecom's encroachment into the German marketplace with its purchase of a
majority stake in mobile operator E-Plus.
	 DLZ completed its offer to purchase the outstanding shares of Digital Link
for approximately $10.85 per share. The 3,615,415 tendered shares, combined
with shares already held by DLZ and its affiliates, comprise over 94 percent
of Digital Link's stock. The companies agreed to the deal in September,
under which a wholly-owned subsidiary of DLZ will be merged with Digital
Link. Global Crossing and KDD will each buy a 0.5 percent stake in
	 SpeedNet, an Internet joint venture involving Softbank and Microsoft. The
Japanese organization will distribute 50,000 shares worth 175 million yen
to five new investors. Yahoo Japan will hold a five percent share in the
venture. Hikari Tsushin and Tokyo Telecommunications Network also each will
hold a 0.5 percent interest in SpeedNet.
	 Juniper Networks formed a definitive agreement to acquire privately-held
Layer Five, a group of advanced developers of network hardware architecture
and related software. Its employees will become part of the Juniper Networks
engineering organization.
	 Lucent Technologies acquired Xedia for approximately 3.86 million shares
	 of Lucent common stock. The merger was accounted for as a pooling of
interests. In other news, Lucent Technologies agreed to acquire the
	 remaining 30 percent of its joint venture with Tesla established in 1992.
The transaction, expected to be completed in early 2000, will allow Lucent
to coordinate support for Central Europe and the Balkan region in a time of
market deregulation and better manage business communications, GSM
operators, and cabling in the region.
	 Nortel Networks completed its acquisition of Periphonics, making
Periphonics a wholly owned subsidiary of Nortel. Each Periphonic share was
converted into a right to receive 0.62 of a Nortel common share. Nortel
issued 8.4 million additional common share in connection with the merger.
	 NTT DoCoMo and NTT Communications reported they are interested in taking a
stake in Telekom Malaysia. The two units of NTT signed a memorandum of
understanding with Khazanah Nasional, the holding company that owns 40
percent in the teleco, concerning the acquisition of an equity stake.
Specifics of the memorandum were not disclosed.
	 Linux vendor Red Hat agreed to buy Cygnus Solutions for $674 million in
stock. Cygnus offers development tools that allow software packages to work
with Linux.
	 A number of companies have expressed interest in Telia's cable television
network, which must be divested as a condition of the company's merger with
Telenor. United Pan-European Communications and Microsoft are rumored to be
among the 20 companies interested in acquiring the network. The cable-TV
company is the second largest in Sweden. It has 1.3 million customers and is
valued at $2.64 billion.
	 Following the rejection of its first offer of a stock-swap worth $107
billion, Vodafone AirTouch decided to approach the shareholders of
Mannesmann AG directly with an increased and final bid of 53.7 Vodafone
AirTouch shares for each Mannesmann share valued at EUR240. This bid was
also rejected. Mannesmann's supervisory board supports the executive board's
decision to oppose Vodafone AirTouch's attempt to buy out the company. The
supervisory board concluded that Vodafone AirTouch's strategic position was
less attractive than Mannesmann's position to the company's shareholders.
	 Volt Information Sciences signed an agreement with Lucent Technologies to
purchase the Wired Services and Professional Staffing divisions of two
Lucent subsidiaries. The Wired Services Division and Professional Staffing
Division are part of Lucent's Technical Services Company. The transaction
includes 970 employees.

PAGE 
	 Arch Communications Group and Juno Online Services formed a strategic
alliance to market co-branded pagers and an integrated messaging service to
millions of Juno members nationwide. The service will notify users via their
pager when they receive a message in their Juno mailbox. Arch will provide
order fulfillment, distribution, and customer relations support for the
service, which is expected to become available early 2000.

Personnel And Organizational Changes 
	 Adtran opened Adtran AG, its first European regional office in Zurich,
Switzerland. The full-service location allows telecommunication service
providers and end-user customers increased accessibility to Adtran product
information, sales and support.
	 America Online and the Cisneros Group launched America Online Brazil,
offering local content, customer service, and billing for customers in
Brazil. Members of the Communication Workers Union (CWU) employed at 37 BT
	 call centers went on a one-day strike in protest of, what they describe,
as poor pay and working conditions. BT said the stoppages did not have an
adverse effect on call traffic. The CWU said this is the first of three
planned strikes. Cincinnati Bell, which closed its merger with IXC, is
	 renaming the combined company BroadWing. The company will trade on NYSE
under the symbol BRW. CyberCash promoted President and Chief Operating
	 Officer James Condon to chief executive. As CEO, Condon succeeds William
Melton, who remains chairman. CyberCash reported that Condon plans to
invest another $10 million in the company.
	 EMC, having completed its acquisition of Data General, will gradually
eliminate its desktop PC and low-end and mid-range servers of its Aviion
line in an attempt to make the business unit profitable. Instead, the
company will focus on its high-end Windows NT servers.
	 As part of its plan to fend off the hostile takeover attempt launched by
Vodafone-AirTouch, Mannesmann is speeding up the split of its engineering
and telecommunications divisions. The company plans to sell more than half
of its engineering business by the middle of 2000. Mannesmann hopes that the
telecommunications shares will soar once separated from the other business,
thus placing the company out of Vodafone AirTouch's grasp.
	 NEC reported it would establish a company in Cebu for the development of
telecommunications software, NEC Telecom Software Philippines. The company,
NEC's second in Cebu, will be established by the end of 1999 and is expected
to start operations in February 2000.
	 Giving in to pressure from shareholders, Telecom Italia's CEO, Roberto
Colaninno, abandoned his plan to restructure the company Telecom Italia will
still go forward with its plan to spin off Tin.it, its ISP division.
	 VocalTec Communications named Elon Ganor its CEO. Ganor, the current
chairman, previously held the CEO post, during which time he oversaw the
company's rapid rise in the VoIP industry it helped to create. He will
immediately assume the responsibilities of Doron Zinger, outgoing president
and CEO, who has resigned to pursue other opportunities.

Notebooks And Handhelds 
	 Hitachi updated its Windows CE-based tablet-sized handheld, ePlate model
HPW-630ETR. Enhancements include a transflective LCD display, designed for
usage in all light conditions.

Regulatory News 
	 American Cellular and the joint venture between AT&T Wireless Services and
Dobson Communications are seeking FCC consent to transfer control of
American Cellular's wireless licenses.
	 Ameritech Michigan's request to increase rates for its adjacent exchange
toll calling plan (AETCP) options was denied by the Michigan Public Service
Commission. The Commission found that Ameritech Michigan did not show that
its current AETCP rates are inadequate and concluded that the claim for an
increase was based on the company's intent to recover revenues closer to
those it would have received if the exchanged plans calls were handled at
the company's toll rates.
	 A thorough regulatory process could delay the close of the MediaOne and
AT&T deal until the second quarter 2000. The FCC will not begin its review
process until the Department of Justice completes its review. The main
issues for DoJ include AT&T receipt of a minority interest in Time Warner
Entertainment through the deal; the implications of the deal for Roadrunner,
an ISP owned by MediaOne and Time Warner; and the deal's impact on
television programming.
	 AT&T Canada won 25G Hz of spectrum capacity in 21 mid-sized metropolitan
markets across Canada in the country's recent wireless spectrum auction. The
winning bids totaled $7.9 million.
	 The Maine Public Utilities Commission and the Hawaii Public Utilities
Commission approved the merger of Bell Atlantic and GTE, leaving only
California, Ohio, Virginia, Washington, and the FCC to review the merger.
The US Department of Justice and shareholders of the companies gave the
merger the go ahead.
	 A World Trade Organization agreement between China and the US may provide
the telecommunications companies, stuck in the regulatory quagmire resulting
from their investment in China Unicom, with some help. In order to be
accepted into the WTO, China must agree to lock in all existing operations
in the country's service areas. This may allow the companies that invested
in China Unicom, only to be told to back out by the government, to retain
their stakes. China also must allow foreign investors to own up to 50
percent of its telecommunications companies. China is yet to approve these
conditions.
	 Britain's Competition Commission was asked by the country's Secretary of
State for Trade and Industry, Stephen Byers, to investigate two recent
moves: NTL's planned acquisition of Cable & Wireless Communications and
Vivendi's purchase of a significant stake in British Sky Broadcasting. Both
moves raise concerns about the pay-television market within Britain.
	 In an effort to foster competition in the satellite service arena, the FCC
granted authority for two providers to operate mobile earth terminals for
mobile satellite service in the US, using a Canadian-licensed satellite. The
companies, TMI Communications and Company of Canada and SatCom Systems of
the US, will use the Canadian satellite MSAT-1.
	 France Telecom and Bouygues Telecom separately reported plans to apply for
third-generation universal mobile telecommunications system (UMTS) licenses.
France Telecom is pursuing similar licenses in other countries in Europe.
	 Globalstar de Mexico S.A. de C.V. was granted a commercial license to
	 offer satellite telephone service throughout the country by the Mexican
Ministry for Communications and Transportation.
	 Sprint and MCI WorldCom filed a 300 page document, advocating their $120
billion merger, with the FCC. The companies argued that the merger would
make advanced services, such as wireless Internet access, available in the
market without increasing prices or reducing competition.
	 MCI WorldCom will pay the state of Vermont $1.3 million, because it
reportedly charged long distance customers there a national access fee. The
IXC falsely claimed the fee was required by the FCC.
	 The transfer of MediaOne's cable franchises to AT&T was unanimously
approved by the Dearborn City Council without a forced access condition.
Dearborn mayor, Michael Guido, serves as Vice Chairman of the US Conference
of Mayors Telecommunications Committee.
	 After being slapped with a lawsuit in Connecticut and getting fined by the
FCC for slamming, Qwest launched an expansion of its program to stop illegal
practices by its staff and third-party representatives. The initiatives
include closer monitoring of agents, increased financial penalties for
violates, and the firing of any agents who get involved with illegal
practices, including slamming.
	 FCC Chairman William Kennard reportedly said he does not intend to hold
lengthy hearings concerning the Qwest and US WEST merger. Kennard said he
would put the approval process for the merger on "the fast track."
Faulkner Information Service
Flash Account
flash@faulkner.com
114 Cooper Center
Pennsauken, N.J. 08109
(609) 662 2070
http://www.faulkner.com



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Missy Harvey
Computer Science Librarian
Engineering & Science Library
Carnegie Mellon University
Pittsburgh, PA  15213

http://www.library.cmu.edu/usr/missy/

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